Handelsbanken Fonder AB Takes $1.10 Million Position in nLight $LASR

Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,100,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of nLight during the first quarter worth approximately $52,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in nLight by 7,142.9% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,014 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in nLight by 155.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in nLight by 7,871.4% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of nLight by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.88% of the company’s stock.

nLight Trading Down 7.4%

LASR stock opened at $50.00 on Wednesday. nLight has a 1-year low of $24.87 and a 1-year high of $86.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -200.00 and a beta of 2.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $65.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.11.

nLight (NASDAQ:LASR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $82.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.58 million. nLight had a negative return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 4.02%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that nLight will post -0.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at nLight

In related news, CFO Joseph John Corso sold 3,840 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $299,481.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,549,358.68. This represents a 2.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO James Nias sold 940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.99, for a total transaction of $73,310.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 97,621 shares in the company, valued at $7,613,461.79. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 116,331 shares of company stock worth $8,834,029. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LASR. Zacks Research downgraded nLight from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of nLight in a report on Friday, July 17th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of nLight in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on nLight from $80.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered nLight from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.94.

nLight Profile

nLIGHT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells semiconductor and fiber lasers for industrial, microfabrication, and aerospace and defense applications. The company operates in two segments, Laser Products and Advanced Development. It offers semiconductor lasers with various ranges of power levels, wavelengths, and output fiber sizes; and programmable and serviceable fiber lasers for use in industrial and aerospace and defense applications. The company also provides laser sensors, including light detection and ranging technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance applications; and fiber amplifiers, beam combination, and control systems for use in high-energy laser systems in directed energy applications.